The joinery market has seen consistent, healthy demand over the last 12 months and, according to the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), has seen a positive increase in business since the start of 2016.
The latest BWF State of Trade survey shows a balance of 43% of joinery companies reported sales volumes growth in Q1 over the previous quarter and 68% of manufacturers were predicting an increase in 2016. These positive statistics came immediately after the closure of joinery giant Leaderflush Shapland but its collapse, which saw the loss of nearly 400 jobs, is seen as a very company-specific ‘blip’.
“Many companies ran down cash reserves over the last eight years as they did what they needed to do to survive,” said Iain McIlwee, BWF chief executive. “However, I don’t believe the market is inherently fragile. Volumes are good and investment levels have been encouraging and are helping to keep the industry lean.”
The key demand driver is new build housing, which is growing at above 5% per year. Domestic repair, maintenance and improvement work is less buoyant but is still solid, according to the BWF and public and commercial sectors have seen some strong growth – particularly in offices.
In some sectors, price is what dictates demand, although there is “a growing appreciation of service levels and process efficiencies”, said the BWF.
In other market sectors, aesthetics, performance and energy efficiency are factors in the decision-making.
“Where clients retain ownership of the homes, people are considering long-term implications and there is more value attached to quality, aesthetics and sustainability,” said Mr McIlwee.
“The customer is starting to look at the whole life cost and, as you move into self-build and domestic RMI, customers also start to look at staircases, doors and windows as more than functional items. They’re considering the design possibilities, thinking of them as furniture for the home.”
A lot of the R&D focus in the window sector has been on coatings and extended life, while for staircase manufacturers there has been an emphasis on protecting and managing the staircase through the construction phase.
The BWF also notes that more importance is being attached to systems rather than looking at the product in isolation. Legislation has also played its part. Changes to Approved Document Q, which require that all external products comply with the security requirements of PAS 24 took effect last October.
“Part Q is only really starting to bite now,” said Mr McIlwee. “There has been a flurry of testing, but we are also seeing innovative approaches from ironmongery and material suppliers, effectively launching systems that enable cascading of test evidence in a controlled way.
“The BWF’s new bespoke annex for windows, accepted and included in the New Homes Standard by Secured by Design, is also helping companies to comply.” The BWF is also developing best practice guides, installation and maintenance instructions in an effort to improve third party installer skills, the lack of which holds the joinery sector back and is seen as “an area of immense frustration”.
“Contractors still leave products unprotected, sitting in a puddle, or they decide to plaster while installing a timber product – and then contact us to say the product is faulty,” said Mr McIlwee.
He said the BWF has seen growing interest in third party certification and accreditation schemes, as the supply chain reviews risk. The BWF Certifire Scheme, Stair Scheme and the Wood Window Alliance are all “well entrenched” in the market now, he said.
The federation continues to lobby government on behalf of its members and key issues include payment practices, recognition of whole life performance and embodied carbon and apprenticeships.
“We’ve been building much closer working relationships with Westminster and the devolved governments,” said Mr McIlwee. “We take every opportunity to impress upon government that the UK wood products manufacturing sector is vital to the economy, adding over £3bn to the UK economy annually.”
He added that poor payment practice and unrealistic contractual expectations are “starving business of the capital and confidence needed to drive investment and support growth”.
“In our lobbying we say that participation in fair payment charters should be set as a pre-requisite of any company’s involvement in public sector contracts.”
Mr McIlwee also highlighted increasing concern among BWF members about the cost of employment and labour availability.
“To address this, low energy manufacturing must be incentivised, job creation and investment never penalised and the Business Rate review should establish that no company is required to pay more.” The skills shortage is likely to be a major constraint on growth over the next year and with the market tightening, “wage increases are an inflationary factor that will push up product prices”.
“The Apprenticeship Levy adds to uncertainty here as the impact it may have on training providers could be catastrophic.” That aside, BWF members already view the apprenticeship system as “inadequate”. Along with the skills shortage and poor payment issues the BWF cites imports as a potential threat to UK joinery manufacturers.
“Import penetration remains a major risk to the trade gap and this puts UK jobs and investment under threat,” said Mr McIlwee. “We saw 12% growth in imports of timber doors from outside of the EU (January- November 2015, compared to the same 2014 period) and 16% growth in imports of wood windows in 2014.”
On a more positive note, the advent of Building Information Modelling (BIM) is being seen as a force for good. The federation has developed a BIM strategy for its members and is progressing with the development of industry-specific guidance, generic BIM models and other resources that will help joinery and woodworking businesses optimise the commercial opportunities coming from BIM. The BWF’s view is that, in due course, BIM will generate “attractive savings” but that it will require initial investment.
